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tv   Americas Election Headquarters  FOX News  September 6, 2012 6:00pm-8:30pm PDT

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we have great deals, including the hottest book in the country right now, "lincoln's last days,kissed 10 to 14. if you haven't read "killing lincoln" yet, consider that. it's been on seller list for a year, one year. wow. thawferg all, by the way. thanks for watching us tonight. please, always remember, the spin stops right here because we are definitely looking out for you. >> the big night here at democratic national convention. we are waiting for vice-president biden and president obama to take the stage. good evening, everyone. i'm megyn kelley. >> i'm bret baier. the president set to accept his party a nomination in front of a capacity crowd here with a speech that aides insist won't be about recreating the newness of 2008, but instead will be about a path for the next four years. >> want to get down if for our
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fox team coverage on the floor, chris wallace and martha mccould youan and -- bill hemmer. >> michelle obama has testified to barack obama, her husband, the man. and bill clinton talked about the last four years and the record. they are counting on the fot talk about the next four years, where he will take the country. one of the things thalt obama campaign says is that they feel that barack obama -- rather mitt romney made a big mistake by not talking more specifically about his plan. they say barack obama won't make that same mistake in his speech and he will speak in great detail about where he would take the country. they have laid out a set of goals. here's the problem. i brought with me a copy of the speech that barack obama made four years ago, during the convention in 2008 and an awful lot of what you are going to hear sounds awfully familiar to
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what he said four years ago. tonight, you are going to hear barack obama say he wants to cut net oil exports in half, or imports, rather, in half by 2020. well, four years ago, he promised to end the dependence on mid-east oil by 2018. tonight he is going to talk about recruiting 100,000 math and science teachers. four years ago, he promised to recruit an army of new teachers. an awful lot of you what are going to hear is recycled. but conspire -- for someone so concerned about the environment, that's a good thing. >> chris wallace, thank you. >> martha? >> reporter: let me tell you something, this is a crowd that is, as the president would say, fired up and ready to g. the entire evening down here has been a party atmosphere, interspersed with more serious mentions, especially of the operation that killed osama bin laden.
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searing criticism of mitt romney delivered by jennifer graham-home and john kerry. she took on the auto industry and said it it would have died without president obama's help. and she told a few jokes, saying that mitt romney loves our cars, he likes to put them in an elevator and put workers down the shaft. that got everybody in this room on their feet. she kept them going, pointing state to state to state with how many jobs were saved in the auto industry as a result of what she saw as barack obama's action on that front. and john kerry saying that he flip-flopped on foreign policies and that he was for the war, before he was against it. but the most moving moment, gabrielle giffords made her way onto the stage with debbie wasserman-schultz and helped to deliver the pledge of allegiance. there was not a dry eye in this
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crowd. what a stunning recovery and moment for her tonight. back to you. >> that gabby giveords moment was quite something. >> we saw her being wheeled in by her husband in a wheelchair. but she walked across the floor, holding the thank you sign and leading the crowd in this pledge. >> let's go to bill hemmer. bill, what's happening? >> reporter: good evening, to you. best seat in the house. this is a temporary area transformed for the night. and moments ago, the first lady, michelle obama, took her seat, front row here, just stage left in charlotte. as 47 veterans from the iraq and afghanistan war now make their tribute on stage. this was set up for the veterans. they moved out of here a few moments ago. this was an area reserved for the vice-president. he could do anything he wanted with it tonight, at the moment, michelle obama is there with her mother in the front row. that's the best seat in the
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house. the worst seat in the house is section 201. you could not get any further from the stage, top row, 201. at 4:00 today, section 201 was filled, five hours ago. that's how long the delegates and supporters have been waiting for these big speeches tonight. we are reaching a boiling point. remember, this was expected to be an outdoor event. so the delegates inside had tickets on tuesday night and wednesday night. that's how they gained access to the proceedings tonight. as for the other 40,000 tickets, they are simply out of luck after the venue was cancelled. one reminder, 2008, stage right, there is a barack obama picture, it looks like the campaign of 2008 with the four-letter word hope beneath it. it may be a reminder of paul ryan's sharp comment in tampa just a week ago. by the way, the weather was the big reason they said it was moved inside. tonight in charlotte, it is partly cloudy. 78 degrees.
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and no rain in sight. bret and megyn, back to you. >> let's bring the panel. the senior writer for the weekly standard, steve hayes, juan williams and brit hume. brit, you know, every campaign puts out excerpts before speeches. we got a few from barack obama's speech. the associated press had this headline. hope has become hang in there. that's not exactly the headline that i am sure the campaign wanted to see out of the gate? >> no, it is not. one notices as well that the things that are set forth at least in the show we have ahead of time is a set of goals, this time business, not a set of promises, perhaps a wise thing. and a discussion in the text of the speech, at least the portion that we saw, about how we can solve our problems, we can do this. the unmistakeable implication is that we haven't -- i haven't. not perhaps an admission that can be avoided.
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but there it is. >> does that work, juan? >> the excerpt talks about how it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades, over decades, is how he phrase its. >> i think the key here tonight is looking forward. i think that will be the theme from the president. after bill clinton went through much of the past, i think here tonight, the president wants to convey to the american people that he has a plan. so i think that's why it makes sense to do what we are describing here, talk about in specific, here's how kiget us through and be patient. that picks up on what we were hearing before. >> what about recapturing the magic of 2008, aides were blunt about it today, saying it is not about magic tonight. >> it sons like he's not going to try. i thinks that's a smart move. this is such a different sort of political environment for barack obama. you know, he's used to giving these big speeches with the movement and momentum and people excited to see him, usually coming in triumphant and
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confident with his chest out. he may have that same attitude as he walks on stage tonight, but he has this record, 3 1/2 year, where he hasn't met the challenges that were put before him and the ting things that he said that he would solve. this is going to be even though it's a forward-looking speech. it is by its nature, a defensive speech, which is new to barack obama on this stage. >> brit, home thees ago, we saw senator kerry offering defense the president in foreign policy and to offer a few attacks on rom prom as well. >> i thought it was interesting. one thing, it was ferocious in its criticism of mitt romney. there were some good lines. he was talking about rom no's various positions on issues and he said, buffer debate barack obama, he says to romney, you better finish the debate with yourself. and he spoke of romney's foreign trip and said for mitt romney is an overseas trip is what you call when you trip all over yourself over sea, it wasn't a good-will mission, it was a blooper reel. it was an interesting tone for someone who aspires to be
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secretary of state to take. there are plenty of secretaries of state in the past who have been act 95 politics and a multitude of ways, many of them have run for office, witness hillary clinton for example. but one has a hard time with george schulz or james a. baker, or even warren christopher making this speech. john kerry has a political background and maybe that's fine. but it is interesting. >> you mentioned that line. you finish with the debate about afbefore you move to the debate with barack obama. it's interesting person to deliver that message, the 2004 presidential candidate who lost in part because of the charge he was a flip-flopper. >> he picked up the line, where, you know, he said on the -- i guess it was the war, that he was actually voted for it before he voted against it. that was a karl rove, the gift that kept on giving. he turned it around a little bit
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and made good use of it. it was a good speech of a certain kind. but an interesting speech for a secretary of state candidate. >> he did one thing, ask osama bin laden if he's better off than he was four years ago. that's the first time they hit home on the bin laden count. >> you have a video about it, as well. and people giving testimony about the drama and how the president remained cool in that moment. to go back to the kerry speech, when chithink will be well returned because i think it was powerful. he spoke to the best line that mitt romney had from the republican convention, which is that, you know, president obama promises to lower global warming and keep the oceans under control. john kerry tonight said, you know what? americans want a president who leads in all these areas. >> thank you. we'll check back in a bit itch as we await the barack obama speech, james rosen takes a look at his last four years in office. >> so help me god. >> congratulations,
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mr. president. >> reporter: from the moment it began and by virtue of its mere existence, president obama's presidency has been singularly historic. >> i wouldn't think it possible that an african-american man could be elected president of the united states. >> reporter: it seems possible that this remarkable man will be someone truliy and remarkably different, who can lift us out of the partisan differences that divide us. >> reporter: but the country was mired in two wars and reeling from the great recession. >> the american recovery and reinvestment act that i will sign today-- >> reporter: early on, he secured from congress an $840 billion stimulus measure. but unemployment remained above 8%. even the president what happen to the shovel-ready projects. >> shovel ready was not as... shovel ready as we expected. >> reporter: the rapid rise in federal spending climaxed in a $16 trillion debt and negotiations between the white house and congressional republicans over whether to extend the debt ceiling. >> i made a sincere effort to
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work with the president. >> this is no way to run the greatest country in the world. >> reporter: ended in a short-term fix. >> it becomes the law of the land. >> reporter: after a year of often fierce debate, mr. obama cybed a landmark overhaul of health care with the mandate to purchase insurance and trillion-dollar price tag, the affordable health care act will bring health care to 30 million americans and reduce the deficit by $210 billion. but as a divided supreme court uphel its constitutionality. >> tonight, i can report to the american people and to the world, the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden... >> to the white house, the sound is deafening. >> reporter: in the war on terrorism, president obama gave the order that brought to justice the world's most wanted man and expanded drone strikes against a so-called kill list of
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terrorist, kept open the detention facility of guantanamo bay and announced a final surge in the troops in afghanistan and a time table for their withdrawal. the arab spring of 2011 toppled dictators in egypt, tunisia and libya and provoked a bloody civil war in syria. throughout the watershed event, many question whether the president was doing enough to support america's allies, oppose the foes and secure freedom. >> gabby opened her eyes for the first time. >> reporter: congresswoman gabrielle giffords and 17 others were shot by a gunman in arizona, some fatally, president obama, gracefully consoled the nation. his would be a contentious term, but he reshaped the roles for wall street, put two women on the supreme court, ended don't ask/don't tell, bailed out the auto industry and launched a take-no-prisoners campaign for
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re-election. >> we are waiting for vice-president biden's speech. then the main event. president obam amount of after that, analysis from charles krauthammer, joe trippi, jonah goldberg and kirsten powers. also, send us your tweets you and can follow us both at megyn kelley. thanks, mom. >> and at bret baier. give us your thoughts here at the democratic national convention. our coverage from charlotte, north carolina, continues after this short break.
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>> welcome back to the democratic national convention. we are just moments away from vice-president biden's speech here in the hall. as we await that, let's bring back our panel and brit hume. brit, you know, have you covered biden for years, when you were up on cap doll hill -- capitol hill. he has a long history up there. he can deliver a speech. he's an affable guy. as he gets ready for this speech, what are you looking for? >> well, i'm sure it will be fiery. i am sure it will be sharply partisan where necessary. i am sure it will extol the virtues of barack obama.
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my guess is that he will stick to his text and he is often better when he does because when he goes off extemporainiously, it can go on for a very long time. i once wrote an article about him and we had a discussion over the telephone about whether he would sit for an interview for it -- i was working for abc news and he said, you never cover me. the truth didn't use much what have he said because it was seldom much use. he said, why is that? and i said, frankly, senator, i think you are a windbag. it is characteristic of biden that he laughed, took it very well and i have been friendly with him since. but i quoted it in the article. he ended up saying to me later oyou know, you have been right about me, about things. he's a very friendly guy. but he can be a windbag. >> we just got word that the president has arrived here. so he is present and lg will be taking to the speech, after the
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vice-president. vice-president biden, affable, but he has caused controversy on the trail and there was speculation that efs going to be replaced on this ticket by hillary clinton. so he takes the stage with a few dings as vice-president in terms of press coverage. >> i think he's a big target. people claim that buffoonery attaches to him. they downplay this this is a guy who has, not only a tremendous store of personal experience. his first wife and children injured on the way to get a christmas tree and the like. but he is a really -- really a strong voice in terms of foreign policy in this country. lots of experience on foreign policy. and we heard him praised last night by president clinton for his handling of something that most people, i think, politically think is toxic, which is the stimulus and secondly, for his ability to get
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the u.s. out of iraq and set a deadline in afghanistan. >> steve, we are told by the campaign that the speech is going to be about vice-president as a character witness to history, if you will. they paint it as being in the room when barack obama has made his toughest decisions and that he will describe that and what it's like. that benefits the president? >> yeah, i think it does. i expect joe biden to give a good speech here. if he does in fact, stick to the script as brit suggests he will. he is somebody who has been in the room and can offer that sense to viewers, to voters, what it was like when barack obama was making these decisions? i think if he sticks to that and doesn't try to do something bigger andad lib too much, i mean, 1, there is a reason that joe biden attaches himself to buffoonery because he often says things that make him look like a buffoon. it is a good thing he has the ability to laugh at hitches because he -- at himself because
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he does it a lot. >> obviously, you can hear thatt that? and listen in. >> i like best about this country, the people. there isn't anything we can't do. there still is that feeling in america. that's the part i love about it. my mother thought the most important virtue was courage. she thought everything else flowed from that. she said bravery hides in every
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heart. some day, it's likely to be summoned. over the last four years, americans have summoned the bravery that lives in our hearts, one by one. family by family. community by comment. fighting through the worst economic crisis since the great depression, proving once again, there is just no quit in america. joe biden understands this. it's what you learn growing up in scranton, pennsylvania, in playmont, delaware itch it was a neat place to grow up. i mean, we thought it was -- and still do think it's completely normal -- four kids, three bedrooms, mom and dad and of the probably 16 years i lived in that house, there was a relative at least 14 of those years, living with us full time. my parents never doubted for a second i could be president or vice-president. there was this notion that nobody is better than you. you are no better than anybody else. but nobody's better than you, honey. in this country, you can be anything you want to be.
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>> i think that sense of optimism is what he feels for america. >> his parents taught him the fundamental truths that make this country special, basic beliefs that have defined what it is meant to be middle class for generations. >> middle class wasn't a -- a number. it wasn't net worth. it was more of a value set, it's the idea that everyone in this country who works at it can do well, can own a home, not rent it, be able to live in a safe neighborhood, send their kid to school, help take care of their parents, maybe save enough to take care of themselves and not rely on their children. that's what this is all about. >> for too many middle-class families, this dream is falling out of reach. the pain of the great recession has cut deep. >> the longest walk a parent can make is up a short flight of stairs, up to their child's bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed and say, honey, i'm
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sorry but you cant play on the little league team this summer or you can't sing in st. annn's choir or you can't, you know, go to roosevelt high school. i lost my job. we have to move. >> my dad made that walk. think how many people have made some version of that walk, all across america. and they are not looking for a handout. they are just looking for a shot -- just a shot to get back in the game. and i think we owe them that shot. >> giving the middle class a shot has been the cause of this white house. from the moment they took the oath of office, the challenges have been enormous. for this president and vice-president, it has been a partnership forged in fire. >> it's turned out to be a singular opportunity to be able to work with a guy like barack obama because we trust each
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other. it is completely candid relationship. i asked him why he wanted me. he said to help him govern. so it's been very rewarding. but it's the most rewarding watching him. this guy has an incredible amount of character. he's a back bone like a ram rod. he makes his judgments based upon what he thinks is good for the country. the last questions he asks are the political consequences. >> joe has been a great partner and a great vice-president. he cares about the middle class. he knows what it's like to struggle. he has carried that passion to the white house. >> every step of the way, they have met the challenge. preventing an economic collapse, rescuing the auto industry, passing historic health care reform, eliminating osama bin laden, ending the war in iraq. and through it all, they have put the interests of the nation first. >> really and truly, barack and i areg about growing this economy from the middle out because when you do it that way, everybody does well.
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poor folks have a ladder up. there is a way into the middle class. and those who are striving to get in the middle class. and the wealthy do very well. because the middle class have money in their pockets. they can go out and purchase things that make the economy grow. it not only is sort of the american way, it is also economically the best way to grow a country. give them a tax system that is basically fair and give their kids an opportunity for an education, provide an environment where they can flourish. >> maybe it's because he has never forgotten where he came from that he has never lost sight of where we need to go. >> he has such a sense of justice and fairness to him. and i think that makes him fight even harder for people. >> maybe it's because he has known loss and pain in his own life that he has never been blind to the suffering of others. >> i think that's one of the things that joe has that a lot of people don't have. the sense of intuition.
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he intutively feels someone's pain. he did know what it feels like to lose a wife and then -- and then the unspeakable -- to lose a child. i think that's why people connect with him. >> he's always shown that he's been a man that supports the working class. >> he really cares. >> he is absolutely here for us. he's listening. >> roger. >> hey, roger, this is joe biden. >> maybe it's because he never doubted the american people, that he has never doubted america's future. >> it is never been a safe bet to bet against america. i know i get criticized for saying that to foreign leaders. but i will not stop saying it. it's never been a good bet to bet against america. >> we near a fight are in the middle class. there is nobody i would rather have in that fight with me than joe biden. >> he's a huds of a teacher, who
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knows teachers should be lifted up not torn down. he's the son of an auto man who, never doubted that the american auto industry would roar. he's the author of the violence against women act, who has had the courage to stand against the abuse of power his whole career. he's the father of an iraq war veteran, who believes or one secret publication is to take care of those who serve this nation. >> i can say with absolute certainty, i am more optimistic about america's chances today than i have been my entire life. >> grit, determination, resilience, optimism. that's been the story of america, the story of ordinary people with extraordinary courage, overcoming extraordinary obstacles. and always, always moving towards a better day. joe biden knows that story. he's lived it. our vice-president, joe biden.
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[cheering] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the vice-president of the united states... joe biden! [cheering] [cheering]
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>> legalo, my fellow democrats! [cheering] and my favorite democrat... i want you to know that beau and hun and ashley and i are so proud of you, kate. you know... we admire the way with every single solitary young person -- and they are not all young, walk into your classroom, you not only teach them, you give them confidence. you give me confidence. and the passion, the passion she brings to trying to ease the burden on the families of our warriors, they know you understand them. and that makes a gigantic difference. [cheers and applause] >> and folks...
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i tell you what, it was worth the trip. to hear my wife say what i have never heard her say before. she's always loved me... [laughter] if that's the case, why in the heck did it take five times of asking you -- and that's true! five times. i don't know what i would have done, kiddo, huon that fifth time said no. i love you. you are the love of my life and the life of my love! [cheers and applause] we have three incredible kids. and beau... i want to thank you for putting my name and nomination to be vice-president of the united states.
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i accept! i accept! thank you! [cheers and applause] thank you, my fellow democrats! i say to my fellow americans, my fellow americans, four years ago, a battered nation turned away from the failed policies of the past and turned to a leader who they knew would lift our nation out of the crisis, a journey, a gorpy we haven't finished yet. we know we still have more to do. but today, i say to my fellow citizens in the face of the deepest economic crisis in our lifetime, this generation of americans has proven itself as
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worthy as any generation before us. we present that same grit, that same determination, that same courage that is always defined what it means to be an american, has always defined, alm -- all of you. together, we are on a mission. we are on a mission to move this nation forward from doubt and downturn to promise and prosperity. a mission i guarantee you we will complete. a mission we will complete! [cheering] folks, tonight what i really want to do is tell you about my friend, barack obama.
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[cheering] no one could tell it as well or as eloquently as michelle, as did you last night -- on monday night. to state the obvious from a different perspective. i know him. i want to show you, i want to show you the character of a leader who had what it took when the american people literally stood on the brink of a new depression. a leader who has what it takes to lead us over the next four years to a future as great as our people. i want to take you inside the white house to see the president as i see him every day because i don't see him in sound bites. i walk 30 paces down the hall into the oval office and i see him, i watch him in action.
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four years ago, the middle class was already losing ground and then the bottom fell out. the financial crisis hit like a sledgehammer on all the people i grew up with. you remember the headlines, you saw some of them in the previews. highlights: highest job losses in 60 years. headlines, economy on the brink. markets plummet worldwide. from the very moment president obama sat behind the desk resolute in the oval office, he knew, he knew he had not only to restore the confidence of a nation, but he had to restore the confidence of the whole world. and he also knew... he also knew that one -- one false move could bring a run on
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the banks, or a credit collapse and put another several million people out of work. america and the world needed a strong president with a steady hand and with the judgment and vision to see us through. day after day, night after night, i sat beside him as he made one gutsy decision after the other. to stop the slide and reverse it. i watched him -- i watched him stand up. i watched him stand to intense pressure and stare down enormous, enormous challenges. the consequences of which were awesome. but most of all, i got to see firsthand what drove this man. his profound concern for the
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average american. he knew -- he knew that no matter how tough the decisions he had to make were in the oval office, he knew that families all over america, sitting at their kitchen tables, were literally making decisions for their family that were equally as consequential. we have been thru a lot together in these four years. we learned about one another, a lot about one another. one of the thins i learned about barack is the enormity of his heart. and i think he learned about me, the depth of my loyalty to him. [applause] and there is another thing. another thing that has bound us together these past four years.
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we had a pretty good idea what all those families, all you americans in trouble were going through. in part because our own families had gone through similar struggles. barack, as a young man had to sit at the end of his mother's hospital bed and watch her fight with her insurances company, at the very same time she was fighting for her life. when i was a young kid in third grade, i remember my dad come up the stairs at my grandpop's house where we were living, sitting at the end of my bed and saying, joe, i am going to have to leave for a while, go to wilmington, delaware, with uncle frank. there are good jobs down there, honey. in a little while, i will be able to send for and you mom and jimmy and val. and everything's going to be
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fine. for the rest of our lives, my sister and my brothers -- for the rest of our life, my dad never failed to remind us that a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. it's about -- it's about your dignity. it's about respect. it's about your place in the community. it is about being able to look your child in the eye and say, honey, it is going to be okay. and mean it and know it's true. barack and i... when barack and i were growing up, there is an implicit understanding in america, that if you took responsibility, you would get a fair shot at a better life. and the values, the values behind that bargain were the values that shaped both of us
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and many, many of you. and today, those same values are barack's guiding star. folks, i have watched him. he has never waiverred. he never, never backs down. he always steps up and he always asks in every one of those critical meetings, the same fundamental question: how is this going to affect the average american? how is this going to affect people's lives? [cheering] >> that's what is inside this man! that's what makes him tick! that's who he is! [cheering] >> folks, because of the decisions he has made and the incredible strength of the american people, america has turned the corner.
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the worst job loss since the great depression, we have since created 4.5 million private-sector jobs in the past 29 months. [cheers and applause] look, folks... president obama and governor romney -- they are both -- they're both loving husbands. they are both devoted fathers. but let's be straight. they bring a vastly different vision and a vastly different value set to the job. and tonight... tonight, although you have heard people talk about it, i am going to talk about two things from a slightly different perspective, from my perspective. i would like to focus on two crisis and show you, show you the character of the leadership that each man will bring to this
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job. because as i have said, i have had a ring-side seat. the first a lot has been talked about and god love jennifer grant-home. wasn't she great? wasn't she great? i love jennifer. [cheers and applause] but the first story i want to talk to you about is the rescue of the automobile industry. let me tell you, let me tell fruthis man's ring-side seat, let me tell you about how barack obama saved more than a million american jobs. in the first -- in the first days -- literally the first days that we took office, general motors and chrysler were literally on the verge of liquidation. if the president didn't act, if he didn't act immediately, there wouldn't be any industry left to save. so we sat, hour after hour in
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the oval office. michelle remembers how -- what he must have thought when he came back upstairs. we sat. woe sat hour after hour. we listened to senators, congressmen, outside advisers, each some of our own advisers. we listened to them say some of the following things. they said, well, we shouldn't step up. the risks-- the risks were too high. the outcome was too uncertain. and the president, he patiently sat there and he listened. but he didn't see it the way they did. he understood something they didn't get and one of the reasons i love him. he understood that this wasn't just about cars. it was about the people who built and made those cars. [cheers and applause] >> and about the america those people built! [cheers and applause] >> in those meetings... in those
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meetings, in those meetings, i often thought about my dad. my dad was an automobile man. he would have been one of those guys all the way down the line, not on the factory floor, not along the supply chain, but one of the guys selling american cars to american people. i thought about -- i thought about what this crisis would have meant for the mechanics and the secretaries and the salespeople who my dad managed over 35 years. and i know for certain, i know for certain that my dad, were he here today, he would be fighting like kick for the president because the president fought to save the jobs of those people my dad cared so much about. ladies and gentlemen... [applause] my dad -- my dad respected barack obama and would have respected barack obama, had he been around, for having had the guts to stand up for the
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automobile industry when so many others just were prepared to walk away. you know, when i look back -- when i look back now -- when i look back on the president's decision, i think of another son of another automobile man, mitt romney. mitt romney grew up in detroit. my dad managed his dad owned -- his dad ran an entire automobile company, american motors. yes, what i don't understand, in spite of that, he was willing to let detroit go bankrupt. i don't think he's a bad guy. no, no. i don't think he's a bad guy. im sure he grew up loving cars as much as i did. what i don't understand, what i don't think he understood, i don't think he understood that saving the automobile worker,
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saving the industry, what it meant to all of america -- not just auto workers. i think he saw it the bain way. i mean this sincerely. i think he saw it in terms of balance sheets and write-offs. forks the bain way may bring your firm the highest profits, but it's not the way to lead our country from the highest office. [cheers and applause] when things hung in the balance, i mean, literally hung in the balance... the president understood, this was about a lot more than the automobile industry. this is about restoring america's pride. he understand, he understand in his gut what it would mean to
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lead a million people -- leave a million people without hope or work if he didn't act. he also knew, he also knew, intutively understood the message it would have sent around the world if the united states gave up on an industry that helped put america on the map in the first place. [applause] >> conviction, resolve, barack obama! that is what saved the automobile industry! conviction, resolve, barack obama! look... you heard my friend john kerry. this president, this president has shown the same resolve, the same steady hand in his role as
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monday commander in chief. look, which brings me to the next illustration i want to tell you about. the next crisis he had to face. in 2008, 2008, before he was president, barack obama made a promise to the american people. he said, if i have -- if we have bin laden in our sights, we will -- we will take him out. he went on to say -- he went on to say, that has to be our biggest national security priority. look, barack understood that the search for bin laden was about a lot more than taking a monstrous leader off the battlefield. it was about so much more than that. it was about righting an unspeakable wrong. it was about -- literally, it
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was about healing an unbearable wound, a nearly unbearable wound in america's heart. and he also knew, he also knew the message we had to send around the world. if you attack innocent americans, we will follow you to the end of the earth! [cheering] look! [crowd cheering u-s-a]. >> most of all -- most of all, president obama had an unyielding faith in the capacity and the capability of our special forces. literally the finest warriors in
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the history of the world! the finest warriors in the history of the world! so we sat... we sat originally, only five of us, we sat in the situation room, beginning in the fall of the year before. we listened, we talked. we heard and he listened to the risks and reservations about the raid. he asked again the tough questions. he listened to the doubts that were expressed. but when admiral mccra ven looked him in the eye and said, sir, we can get this job done. i sat next to him. i looked at your husband. and i knew at that moment he had made his decision. and his response was decisive.
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he said, do it and justice was done! [cheering] >> folks... governor romney didn't see things that way. when he was asked about bin laden in 2007, here's hahe said. he said, it's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just to catch one person. [boos from crowd]. >> but he was wrong. he was wrong. because if you understood that america's heart had to be healed, you would have done exactly what the president did and you would move heaven and earth to hunt him down and to
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bring him to justice! [cheering] >> look, four years ago... four years ago, four years ago, my mom was still with us, sitting up in the stadium in denver. i quoted her -- [cheering] >> i quoted her, one of her favorite expressions. she used to say to all her children. she said, joey, bravery resides in every heart. and the time will come when it must be summoned. ladies and gentlemen, i am here to tell you what i think you already know. but i watch it up close. bravery resides in the heart of barack obama and time and time again, i witnessed him summon it. this man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart
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and a spine of steel! and! [cheering] and because of all the actions he took, because of the calls me made, because of the determination of american workers and the unparalleled bravery of our special forces, we can now proudly say what you have heard me say the last six months -- osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive! [cheering] that's right. folks, we know we have more work to do. we know we are not there yet. but not a day has gone by in the last four years when i haven't been grateful as an american that barack obama is our president because he always has
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the courage to make the tough decision. speaking of tough decisions, speaking of tough calls, last week, we heard that the republican convention, we heard our opponents -- we heard them pledge that they too, they too had the courage to make the tough calls. that's what they said. [akinori iwamuras from crowd] but, folks, in case you didn't notice... i say to my fellow americans, in case you didn't notice, they that. mrs. robunson, you watched from home, i guess, from the white house, you heard them talk so
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much about how they cared so much about medicare. how much they wanted to preserve it. that's what they told you. well, let's look at hathey didn't tell you. what they didn't tell you is that the plan they have already put down on paper would immediately cut benefits from more than 30 million seniors already on medicare. what they didn't tell you -- what they didn't tell you is the plan they're proposing would cause medicare to go bankrupt by 2016. and what they really didn't tell you is, if you want to know, if you want to know, they are not for preserving medicare at all! they're for a new plan. it's called voucher-care. look, folks... [boos from crowd]. >> that's not courage. that's not even truthful.
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that's not even truthful. in tampa, they talk with great urgency about the nation's debt and the need to act, to act now. but not once, not one single time did they tell you that they rejected every plan put forward by us, by the bipartisan simpson-bowles commission they referenced or any other respected grume -- group to reduce the national debt. they were not for any of them. why? because they are not prepared to do anything about the debt if it contained even one dollar -- i am not exaggerating -- even one dollar or one cent in new taxes for millionaires. folks, that's not courage. and that's not fair. look... [applause] look... in a sense, this could
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be reduced to a single notion. the two men seeking to lead this country over the next four years, as i said at the outset, have fundamentally different visions and completely different value set. governor romney believes in this global economy it doesn't matter much where american companies invest and put their money or where they create jobs. as a matter of fact, in his budget proposal and his tax proposal, he calls for a new tax. it's called a territorial tax, which the experts have looked at and acknowledge it will create 800,000 new job it'sul all of them overseas. all of them. and what i found fascinating, the most fascinating thing i found last week was when governor romney said that as president, he would take a jobs tour. well with his support for
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outsourcing, it will have to be a foreign trip... [laughter] >> it will! look... president obama knows that creating jobs in america, keeping jobs in america, breaking jobs back to america is what the president's job is also also -- all about. that's what presidents do -- or are supposed to do. folkfolk, governor romney believes it's okay to raise taxes on middle classes by $2,000 in order to pay for another trillion-dollar tax cut for the very wealthy. president obama knows that there is nothing decent or fair about asking people with more to do less and with less to do more. governor romney believes, he believes that kids -- kids like our dreamers, those immigrant children -- those immigrant children who were brought to
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american shores -- he thinks they are a drag on the american economy. president obama believes even though those dreamers, those kids didn't choose to be come here, they have chose tone do right by america and it's time foritous do right by them! [cheering] governor romney looks at the notion of equal pay in terms of a company's bottom line. president obama -- he knows that making sure our daughters get the same pay for the same jobs as our son is every father's bottom line! [cheering] i kind of expected all of that from him. but one thing truly perplekts --
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perplexed me at the convention. the thing that perplexed me most was the idea they kept talking about about the culture of dependency. they seem to think you create a culture of dependency when you provide a bright, young qualified kid from a working-class family, a loan to get to college or when you provide a job-training program in a new industry for a dad who lost his job because it was outsourced. folks, folks, that's not how we look at it. that's not how america's ever looked at it. what he doesn't understand is all of these men and women are looking for is a chance, just a clans to acquire the skills to be able to provide for their families so they can once again hold their heads high and lead independent lives with dignity. that's all they are looking for. [applause] and literally, it amazes me they
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don't understand that. you know, i told you the outset, the choice is stark. two different visions, two different value sets. but at its core, the difference is reduced to be a fundamental difference. you see, you, we, most americans, have incredible faith in the diseensy and hard work of the american people -- decency and the hard work of the american people. we know what has made this country. it's the american people. as i mentioned at the outset, four years ago, we were hit hard. you saw -- you saw -- your retirement account drained, the equity in your home vanished, jobs lost around the line. but what did you do as americans? what you have always done. you didn't lose faith. you fought back. you didn't give up. you got up! you are the ones -- the american people -- you are the ones -- you are the reason why we are
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still better positioned than any country in the world to lead the 21st century! you never quit on america! and you deserve a president whoa will never quit on you! [cheering] there is one more thing. one more thing. our republican opponents are just dead wrong about. america is not in decline! america is not in decline. i have got news for governor romney and congressman ryan. gentlemen, never ever -- it never makes sense -- it's never been a good bet to bet against the american people! never! [cheering] my fellow americans, america is
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coming back! and we are not going back. and we have no intention of downsizing the american dream! ladies and gentlemen, in a moment, in a moment, we are going to hear from a man whose whole life is a testament to the power of that dream and whose presidency is the best hope to secure that dream for our children. for, you see, you see... we see a future. we really honest to god do, we see a future where everyone -- rich and poor -- does their part
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and has a part, a future where we depend more on clean energy from, home and less on oil from abroad. a future where we are number 1 in the world again in college graduation. a future where we promote the private seccor, not the privilege sector, and a future... and a future where women once again control their own choices, their destiny and their own health care. [cheering] >> and ladies and gentlemen, barack and i see a future. it's in our dna, where no one -- no one is forced to live in the shadows of intolerance!
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folks, we see a future where america leads not only the by power of our -- the example of our power, evan bayh the power of our example, where we bring our troops home from afghanistan, just as we proudly did from iraq. a future... a future where we fulfill the only truly sacred obligation we have as a nation, the only truly sacred obligation we have is to prepare those who we send to war and care for them when they come home from war. and tonight -- and tonight... tonight... i want to acknowledge
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acknowledge -- i want to acknowledge as we should every night, the incredible debt we owe to the families of those 6,473 fallen angels. those 49,746 wounded, thousands critically, thousands who will need our help for the rest of their lives. folks... we never -- we must never ever forget their sacrifice. and always keep them in our care and in our prayers. my fellow americans, we now -- we now -- we now find ourselves at the hinge of history and the direction we turn is not
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figuratively, is literally if your hands. it has been a truly great honor to serve you and to serve with barack who has always stood up with you for the past four years. i have seen him tested. i know his strength, his command issue his faith. i also know the incredible confidence he has in all of you. i know this man. yes, a work in recovery is not yet complete. but we are on our way. the journey of hope is not yet finished, but weer our way and the cause of change is not fully accomplished, but we are on our way. so i say to you tonight, with absolute confidence, america's best days are ahead. and yes, we are on our way! [cheering] in light of that horizon, for
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the values that define us, for the ooh deals that inspire us, there is only one choice. that choice is to move forward, boldly forward and finish the job and re-elect president barack obama! god bless you all. and may god protect our troops. god bless you. thank you! [cheering] >> vice-president joe biden speaking for about 40 minutes here, hugging his wife, dr. jo biden, saying our journey of hope is not yet finished, telling the crowd here, we turned the corner but we have more work to do. we are not there yet. at times, veering off script,
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using one of his favorite words, "literally," a few times. when the crowd boo'd in response to a comment about mitt romney. he stopped them and said, "no, i don't think he's a bad guy," which is a shift in tone from the campaign trail. talking to the crowd about how bin laden is dead and g.m. is alive. that's a motto he thinks his campaign should be running on. taking it to the republicans on midcare and debt, suggesting that the republicans rejected the simpson-bowles recommendation. there will be push-back on that and president obama also failed to lead to push through a bipartisan consensus and they complained about pled care, suggesting the romney/ryan plan would result in the loss of benefits for 30 million seniors immediately, which will raise eyebrows. but saying he had a ringside seat to the barack obama presidency and as bret said, vouching for the commander in
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chief's character. >> on the medicare point, there will be a lot of push-back on the specific points. throughout the speech, there were a couple of straw men set up when the vice-president said it has never, ever, ever been a good bet to bet against the american people. i don't think many people think other people is betting against the american people. but he fired up the crowd. he is better than most at getting the base really excited. >> showed could see with him. he teared up a couple of times. he paid a nice tribute to the troops and the crowd ate it up. we want to go to ed henry, on the floor now. >> reporter: he says that the recovery is not complete. but said, quote, america has furned the corner. we will see when we get another jobs report tomorrow, whether that is backed up and he talked about the oughtie bailout about ohio and michigan, where that really matters and contrasting what he was saying about the president standingun for the police -- middle class and
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trying to contrast that with mitt romney and bain capital. the president has had three character witnesses, his wife, president bill clinton and now vice-president biden. now the task of the president is to come out and woo the small number of undecided voters. how does he do it? one to one, he says, government programs are not the only solution to the problem. but we should point out, tonight is the first anniversary that solyndra went bankrupt. [crowd chanting four more years]. >> dick durbin is on the floor and after that, they will do a video, bruceing the president. we have a lot to get to. this is nothing to do with the contentious exchange he had with bret baier. he introduced barack obama in 2004 and in 2008.
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tonight he will introduce video that sets up the president, which we will take here. one of the things about vice-president biden, he had some digs against mitt romney specifically. he went after bain capital and said, folk, the bain way may bring your firm the highest profit, but it is not the way to lead your country if -- from its highest office. that's a theme of how bain capital operated. you saw the push-back in tampa from governor romney and others saying we are going to fight aggressively. let's get to the panel quickly. steve, your thoughts on vice-president biden's speech. >> in the beginning, he was soft and made the scpais had two examples. i have quibbles about the arguments about the auto bailout. but he made a strong case on behalf of the president in the osama bin laden section and what it was like to be in the room. the second part of the speech was rank demagoguery, misleading
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statement after misleading statement. claims he won't be able to back up, including o he suggests that mitt romney and paul ryan once bet against the american people. i think you would hear a quick response from them, saying we want to empower the american people and get government out of the way. you are the one who wants to make the american people more dependent. >> i had a different view. i thought the speech was slow. i am not sure that was to my taste. i wanted him to have a little more passion and drive going out of the box. i thought 40 minutes felt it had its moments, but dragging. but you know, the point he was making about values and vision differing between obama and romney, very well done. i think that much like bill clinton in terms of a substantive approach to the american people. you know, joe biden's thing is he is average joe from scranton. i think in that way, he was very successful, very persuasive tonight. >> brit. e >> in you know, he spoke with a
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certain conviction. it's always difficult to assess while watching in the hall, even though we can see tv screens, how it's playing on television of but it did see seem to me, the times that roused the audience, he seemed to be shouting and angry. anger is something you have to deal with very carefully on television. if you come through as -- as he seemed he may have, as an angry, angry politician, i am sure that goes down well and makes the case effectively. that would be my thought. >> let me ask you -- >> go ahead. >> we heard from senator kerry and vice-president biden the tribute to the troops, specifically. >> that was an opening left wide by the fact that mitt romney did not mention that in his speech. there were plenty said about it in tampa generally. but that was an opening that they took advantage of and it was politically shrewd to do so. >> what do you make of the message, four years ago, hope
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and change. tonight, we hear from the vice-president, a slightly different message of our journey hope is not yet finished, asking for permission to finish the job. is that -- we are not done yet. is that what we are likely to hear from the president? >> we have heard it from bill clinton and many other speakers that they feel they are in the middle of a journey and they are saying to the american people, he -- the president's not to be judged on this four-year period. so i think that's right. this business about optimism and saying that america's in decline, more optimism from these democrats today than i have been hearing from republicans. >> that image of the roulette wheel and you know, it's like america, not america. suggesting that the republican team has its chips on the latter. are people going to buy that? >> i think it's a wrong thing. >> let's listen in to the video, bruceing the president of the united states, making his pitch
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for re-election. >> we have been through a lot together. but we have known tough times before. what carries us through... and helps us endure... what are the qualities so essential to us and the leader who is have occupied that office?
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>> he did some things knowing they wouldn't be popular in the short run that would lay the foundation for recovery. no other country in the world would give up the capacity to manufacture cars if it had it. so he did what the government's supposed to do in a case like that. >> do not rescue the automobile industry. i mean, it was overwhelming, look at the foaling. >> a country in the midst of a financial crisis that no one really, you know, knew the depths of the challenges that were coming. i thinks he -- he had a sense. >> my grandparents came out of the depression. they knew what it was like for people not to have work. we all understand work as something more than just a paycheck. what gives you dignity, what gives you a sense of purpose. >> he said, have you to work together and come up and everybody's got to have some skin in the game here. you have to have a give-up, have you to modernize the industry.
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>> everybody said, it's never going to work. guess what? >> 80,000 more people working in the car business than we did before the restructuring was passed. middle-class jobs, people can raise a family on, a decent wage. >> we have gone from an economy that was shedding jobs to one that is consistently creating jobs. at all sectors. every night, he is up until 1:00, 2:00 in the morning with his big stack of briefing books and he reads the letter hes gets from people all over america. they are, as he put it, some of the most informative pieces of material that he gets, that keeps him grounded. anyone who has kids knows that the truth is, no matter what you do, your kids think they are the most important people in the room. so we sit around the dinner table and he's the last person to be asked, how was your day, dad you? know? really, he's an after thought.
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>> he never starts a conversation by saying, what's the best political decision here? what will help us the most? never. [crowd chanting]. >> he wasn't going to back out just because it got hard, just because it didn't poll well. that's just never been who he is. it is certainly not how he will ever govern this country. >> when my mom got cancer, she wasn't a wealthy woman. and it pretty much drained all her resources. >> watching your mother die of something that could have been prevented, that's a tough thing to deal with. >> the reason he pushed ahead, knowing that there could be horrible political consequences for him, just as there were for me, is that health care costs have gone up three times the rate of inflation. this is a huge economic issue. we spent 17 1/2% of our income
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on health care. >> hundreds of thousands of dollars -- imagine working-class mom, opening up that kind of bill. you know? with somebody sending that to her with a straight face. that understanding of that kind of reality for millions of americans drove him to make sure that this legislation got passed. it takes a conscious effort to stay connected with what is going on in people's lives itch this was a matter of principle for him. he ran on. it he said he was going to do it. and he did it. >> you hire the president to make the calls when no one else can do it. he had to decide. that's one thing george bush said that was right. the president is the decide-er
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in chief. >> we were only about 50% sure that bin laden was in that compound. but i had 100% confidence in our navy seals. >> i sat in that room with him when we were getting feeds on what was going on at the time. he sat there, resolute, concerned, just watching. got him. confirm it. just boom, boom, boom. then came and explained to everybody the next day in the cabinet room what happened. this is a guy, who as i said, has a back bone like a ram rod. >> good evening. tonight, i can report to the american people and to the world >> he took the harder and the more honorable path and the one that produced, in my opinion, the best result.
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when i saw what had happened. i thought to myself, i hope that's the call i would have made. it was just the right thing to do. >> we have a long way to go. but with every new beginning, every step forward, we remember who we are. >> what's really allowing this economy to heal and get us moving again is the resilience and the strength and the character of the american people. they don't quit. they don't give up. partly because of family, partly because of sense of community, patriot. >> and pride in this country, they keep going.
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that's the incredible gift that the american people have given back to me in this job. [cheering] >> thank you so much. tonight, i am so thrilled and so honored and so proud to introduce the love of my life, the father of our two girls and the president of the united states of america, barack obama! [cheering]
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[cheering] [cheering] >> thank you!
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thank you! thank you! thank you so much. [crowd chanting four more years] thank you so much. thank you. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. michelle... i love you so much. i few nights ago, everybody was reminded just what a lucky man i am.
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molia and sash awe are so proud of you. and, yes, you do have to go to school in the morning. and, joe biden, thank you for being the very best vice-president i could have ever hoped for and being a strong and loyal friend. [cheering] madam chairwoman, delegates, i accept your nomination for president of the united states! [cheering]
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now, the first time i addressed this convention, in 2004, i was a younger man. a senate candidate from illinois who spoke about hope. not blind optimism, not wishful being, but hope in the face of difficulty. hope in the face of uncertainty. that dogged faith in the future which has pushed this nation forward even when the odds are great. even when the road is long. eight years later, that hope has been tested. by the cost of war, by one of
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the worst economic crisis in history and by political gridlock that has left us wondering whether it is still even possible to tackle the challenges of our time. i know campaigns can seem small, even silly sometimes. trivial things become big distractions, serious issues become sound bites. the truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and advertising. if you are sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me -- so am i. [applause] but when all is said and done, when you pick up that ballot to vote, you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation. over the next few years, big
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decisions will be made in washington on jobs, the economy, taxes and deficits, energy, education, war and peace. the decisions that will have a hiewmg impact on our lives and our our children's lives for decades to come. and on every issue, the choice you face won't just be between two candidates or two parties, it will be a choice between two different paths for america, a choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future. ours is a fight to restore the values that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known. the values my grandfather defended as a soldier in patton's army, the values that drove my grandmother to work on a bomber assembly line while he was gone. they knew they were part of
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something larger. a nation that triumphed over fascism and depression, a nation where the most innovative businesses turned out the world's best products. and everyone shared in that pride and success from the corner office to the factory floor. my grandparents were given the chance to go to college, buy their own home and fulfill the basic bargain at the heart of america's story. the promise that hard work will pay off. that responsibility will be rewarded, that everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules from main street to wall street to washington, d.c. and i ran for president because i saw that basic bargain slipping away. i began my career helping people
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in the shadow of a shuttered steel mill at a time when too many good jobs were starting to move overseas. by 2008, we had seen nearly a decade in which families struggled with costs that kept rising and paychecks that didn't. folks racking up more and more debtake the mortgage or pay tuition, put gas in the car or food on the table. and when the house of cards collapse in the great recession, millions of innocent americans lost their jobs, their homes, their life savings, a tragedy from which we are still fighting to recover. now, our friends down in tampa, at the republican convention, were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with america. but they didn't have much to say about how they would make it right. they want your vote, but they don't want to you know their plan.
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and that's because all they have to offer is the same prescriptions they have had the last 30 years. have a surplus? try a tax cut. deficit too high? try another. feel a cold cp -- coming on? take a tax cut and sleep on it and call us in the morning. now, i have cut taxes for those woneed it. middle-class families, small businesses. but i don't believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores or pay down our deficit. i don't believe that firing teachers or kicking students off
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financial aid will grow the economy or help us compete with the scientists and engineers coming out of china. after all we have been through, i don't believe that rolling back regulations on wall street will help the small businesswoman expand or the laid-off construction worker keep his home. we have been there. we have tried that and we are not going back. we -- moving forward, america! we are moverring -- we are moving forward, america! [cheering] >> now, i won't pretend the path i am offering is quick or easy. i never have. you didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear, you elected me to tell you the truth. [cheering] and the truth is, it will take more than a few years foritous solve challenges that have built up over decades, that will
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require common effort and shared responsibility and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation that franklin roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one. special by the way, those of us who carry on his party's legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from washington. but know this, america -- our problems can be solved. our challenges can be met. the path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. i am asking you to choose that future. i am asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country, goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security and the deficit. real, achievable plans that will lead to new jobs. more opportunity and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. that's what we can do in the next four years. and that is why i am running for
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a second term as president of the united states. [cheering] we can choose a future where we export more products and outsource fewer jobs. after a decade that was defined by what we bought and borrowed, we are getting back to basics and doing what americans have always done best, we are making things again. i have met workers in detroit and toledo who feared they would never build another american car. and today, they can't build them fast enough because we re-invented a dying auto industry that is back on the top of the world.
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i have worked with business leaders who are bringing jobs back to america, not because our workers make less pay but because we make better products, because we work harder and smarter than anyone else. i signed trade agreements that are helping our companies sell more goods to millions of new customer, goods that are stamped with three proud words -- made in america! [cheering] [crowd chanting u-s-a]. >> and after a decade of decline, this country created over half a million manufacturing jobs in the last two and-a-half years. and now you have a choice, we can give more tax breaks to corporations that shipped jobs overseas, or we can start
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rewarding companies that open new plants and train new workers and create new jobs here in the united states of america! [cheering] >> we can help big factories and small businesses double their exports. and if we choose this path, we can create a million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years. you can make that happen! you can choose that future. you can choose the path where we control more of our own energy. after 30 years of inaction, we raised fuel standards so by the middle of the next decade, cars and trucks will go twice as far on a gallon of gas. we have doubled our use of renewable energy and thousands of americans have jobs building wind turbines and long-lasting batteries. in the last year alone, we cut oil imports by 1 million barrels
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a day, more than any administration in recent history. and today, the united states of america is less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the last two decades. so now you have a choice between a strategy that reverse thiss ts progress or one that builds on it. we have opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration in the last 3 years and we will open more. but i will not let oil companies write this country's energy plan or endanger the coastline or collect $4 billion in corporate welfare from taxpayers. we are offering a better path. we are offering a better path, where we -- a future where we
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keep investing in wind and soular and clean coal, where farmers and sciences harness new biofuels to power cars and trucks, where construction workers build homes and factories that waste less energy, where we develop a hundred-year supply of natural gas beneath our feet. if you choose this path, we cut our imports in half and support more than 600,000 new jobs in natural gas alone. and yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet because climate change is not a hoax -- more droughts and floods and wildfires to our children's future n. this election, you can do something about it! [cheering]
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you can choose a future where meramericans gain the chance to get the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much money they have. education was the gateway to opportunity for me. it was the gateway for michelle and for most of you. and now more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle-class life. for the first time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards for teaching and learning. some of the worst schools in the country have made real gains in math and reading, millions of students are paying less for college today because we took on a system that wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on banks and lenders. it -- and now you have a choice, we can gut education or we can
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decide that in the united states of america, no child should have her dreams deferred because of a crowded classroom or a crumbling school. no family should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they don't have the money. no company should have to look for workers overseas because they couldn't find any with the right skills here at home. that's not our future. that is not our future. a government has the role in this. but teachers must inspire. principles must lead. parents must instill a thirst for learning. and students -- you gotta do the work. and together, i promise you, we can out-educate and out-compete any nation on earth. so help me -- help me recruit 100,000 math and science
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teachers within 10 years and improve early childhood education. help give 2 million workers the chance to learn skills in their community college that will lead directly to a job. help us work with colleges and universities to cut in half the growth of tuition costs over the next 10 years. we can meet that goal together. you can choose that future for america. that's our future. you know, in a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven. four years ago, i promised to end the war in iraq. we did. i promised to refocus on the terrorist who is attackeddous
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9/11. and we have. we have blunted the taliban's momum in afghanistan and in 2014, our longest war will be over. a new tower rises above the new york skyline. kai is on the path to defeat and osama bin laden is dead. [cheering] tonight, we pay tribute to the american who is still serve in harm's way. we are forever in debt to a generation whose sacrifice has made this country safer and more respected. we will never forget you. and so long as i am commander in chief, we will sustain the
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strongest military, the world has ever known. when you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as you have served us because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their head or the care that they need when they come home. around the world, we have strengthened old alians and forged new coalitions to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. we have reasserted our power across the pacific and stood up to china on behalf of our workers. from burma to libya, to south sudan, we have improved the rights and dignity of christians, muslims and jew, meb and women. but for all the progress that we have made, challenges remain. terror plots must be
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dysdisrupted. europe's crisis must be contained. our commitment to israel's security must not waiver. and neither must our pursuit of peace. [cheers and applause] the iranian government must face a world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions. the middle-east must be defined by the hopes and aspirations of ordinary people reaching for the same rights that we celebrate here today. so now we have a choice. my opponent and his runningmate are -- new to foreign policy. [applause] >> from all we have seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost america so dearly. after all, you don't call russia
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our number-1 enemy -- not al qaeda -- russia, unless you are stuck in a cold war mind warp. you might not be ready for diplomacy with beijing if you can't visit the olympics without insulting our closest ally. [cheering] my opponent -- my opponent said that it was tragic to end the war in iraq. and he won't tell us how he will end the war in afghanistan. well, i have. and i will. while my opponent would spend more monomilitary hardware than our joint chiefs don't even want, i will use the money we are no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work, rebuilding
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roads and bridges and schools and runways because after two wars, that cost us thousands of lives and over $1 trillion, it is time to do the nation building right here at home! [cheering] you can choose a future where we reduce our deficit without sticking it to the middle class. independent experts say that my plan would cut our deficit by $4 trillion. and last summer, i worked with republicans in congress to cut a billion dollars in spending because those of us who believe government can be a force for good should work harder than anyone to reform it, so it's leaner and more efficient and more responsive to the american people. i want to reform the tax code so
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that simple, fair and ask the wealthiest households to pay higher taxes on incomes over $250,000. the same rate we had when bill clinton was president and when our economy created nearly 23 million jobs, the biggest surplus in history and a lot of millionaires to boot. now... i am still eager to reach an agreement based on the principles of my bipartisan debt commission. no party has a monopoly on wisdom. no democracy works without compromise. i want to get this done. and we can get it done. but when governor romny and his friends in congress tell us, we can somehow lower our deficits by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy, well -- what did bill clinton call it? you did the math. you do the math.
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i refuse to go along with that. as long as i am president, i never will. i refuse to ask middle-class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire's tax cut. to ask students to pay more for college, or kick children out of headstart programs, to eliminate health insurance for millions of americans who are poor a elderly or disabled, all so those with the most can pay less. i am not going along with that. and i will never -- i will never turn medicare into a voucher. [cheering]
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no american should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies. they should retire with the care and the dignity that they have earned. yes, we will reform and strengthen medicare for the long haul. but we doll it by reducing the cost of health care, not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more. and we will keep the promise of social security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen it, not by turning it over to wall street. this is the choice we now face. this is what the election comes down to. over and over, we have been told by our opponents that bigger tax cuts and fewer regulations are the only way, that since government can't do everything, it should do almost nothing.
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if you can't afford health insurance, hope that you don't get sick. if a company releases toxic pollution into the air that your children breathe, well, that's the price of progress. if you can't afford to start a business or go to college, take my opponent's advice and borrow money from your parents. [cheers and applause] >> you know what? that's not who we are. that's not what this country's about. as americans, we believe we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, rights that no man or government can take away. we insist on personal responsibility. and we celebrate individual initiatives. we are not entitled to success, we have to earn it. we learn the strivers, the dreamers, the risk takers, the
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entrepreneurs who have been the enterprise of our system, the greatest growth and prosperity that the world's ever known. but we also believe in something called citizenship. [cheering] citizenship, a word at the very heart of our founding. a word at the very essence of our democracy. the idea that this country only work when is we accept certain obligations to one another and a future generation. we believe that when a ceo pays ought auto -- auto workers enough to buy the cars that they built, the whole company does better. we believe when a family can't be tricked into signing a mortgage they can't afford, the family's protected and so is the value of other people's homes and so is the entire economy.
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we believe the little girl who's offered an escape from poverty by a great teach or eye grant for college, could become the next steve jobs or a scientist who cures cancer or the president of the united states. and it is in our power to give her that chance! [cheering] >> we know that churches and charities can make more of a difference than poverty programs alone. we don't want handouts for people who refuse to help themselves or bailouts for banks that break the rules. we don't think that government can solve all of our problems. but we don't think that the government is the source of all of our problems. any more than our welfare
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recipients or corporations or unions or immigrants or gays or any other group we are told to blame for our troubles. [cheering] because... because america, we understand that this democracy is ours. we... the people... recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights, that our deft niece are bound together, that a freedom which asks only what is in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism is unworthy of our founding ideals and those who died in their defense.
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as citizens, we understand that america's not about what can be done for us, it's about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government. that's what we believe. so, you see, the election four years ago wasn't about me. it was about you. [cheering] my fellow citizens, you were the change. [cheering] you are the reason there is a little girl with a heart disorder in phoenix who will get the surgery she needs because an insurance company can't limit her coverage. you did that! [cheering]
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you're the reason a young man in colorado who never thought he would be able to afford his dream of earning a medical degree is about to get that chance. you made that possible! [cheering] you are the reason a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school here and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer be deported from the only country she's ever called home. why selfless soldiers won't be kicked out of the military because of who they are or who they love, why thousands of families have finally been able to say to a loved one who served us so bravely, welcome home. welcome home. you did that! you did that! [cheering] >> you did that. if you turn away now... if you turn away now, if you buy into
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the cynicism that the change we fought for isn't possible, well... change will not happen. if you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference, then other voices will fill the void. the lobbyists and special interests, the people with the $10 million checks who are trying to buy this election and those who are trying to make it harder for you to vote. washington politicians who want to decide who you can marry or control health care choices that women should be making for themselves -- [cheering] only you can make sure that doesn't happen. only you have the power to move us forward. [shouts from crowd].
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>> i recognize that times have changed since i first spoke to this convention. times have changed and so have i. i am no longer just a candidate. i am the president. [cheering] >> owe share the frustration of workers who lost their jobs.
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if critics are right i made decisions based on polls i must not be very good a reading them. and while i'm proud of what we've achieved together, i'm far more mindful my own failings knowing exactly what lincoln meant when he said i've been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that i have no place else to go. but as i stand here tonight, i have never been more hopeful about america. not because i think i have all of the answers, not because i'm naive about the magnitude of our challenges, i'm hopeful because of you. the young woman i met in a science fair won national recognition for her biology research, while living with her family in a homeless
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shelter, she gives me hope. the auto worker who won the lottery after his plant almost closed but kept coming to work every day, and bought flags for his whole town, and one of the cars he built to surprise his wife? he gives me hope. the family businesses in minnesota that didn't layoff a single one of their 4,000 employees when the recession hit, even when their competitors shut down plants, when it meant the owner gave up perks and pennies because they understood that their biggest asset was a community and workers who helped build that business. they give me hope.
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i think about the young sailor i met at walter read hospital, still recovering from a grenade attack that will cause him to have his leg amputate add above the knee. six months ago we'd watch him walk into a white house dinner honoring those served in iraq. tall and 20 pounds heavier, dashing in his uniform. the big grin on his face. sturdy on his new leg. i remember how a few months after that i would watch him on a bicycle bracing with fell yes wounded warriors on a sparkling day, inspiring other heroes who had just bee gunt hard path he'd traveled. he gives me hope. he gives me hope. i don't know what party these men and women belong to.
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i don't know if they'll vote for me. but i know that their spirit defines us. they remind me in the words of scripture ours is a future filled with hope. if you share that faith with me, if you share that hope with me, i ask you tonight for your vote. >> you reject the notion this nation's promise is reserved for the few, your voice must be heard in this election. if you reject the notion that our government is forever beholden to the highest bidden you need to stand up in this election. if you believe that new factories can dot our landscape, new energy can power our future, that new schools can provide ladders of opportunity for this nation of dreamers, if you believe in a
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country everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and plays by the same rules, then i need you to vote this november. america... i never said this journey would be easy. i won't promise that now. yes, our path is harder but at it leads to a better place. yes, our road is longer but we travel it together. we don't turn back, we leave no one behind. we pull each other up. we draw strength from our victories and we learn from our mistakes but we keep our eyes fixed on that horizon. knowing the promise is with us and we're truly blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on earth. thank you. god bless you.
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and god bless these united states. ♪ [ music ] . ♪ [ music ] ♪ [ music ] .
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♪ [ music ] . ♪ [ music ] . ♪ [ music ] . ♪ [ music ] .
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♪ [ music ] columns said tonight hope has been tested. the path is harder. he asked tonight in charlotte to make this a choice election. like republicans in tampa calling it the clearest choice in the generation for the president warned republicans he said, want to go backwards. yet many pointed jabs at mitt romney and several of them over foreign policy and a now familiar cadence sh he brought the crowd up and down. a strongh
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in delivery and wove in promises kept like ending the war with iraq. critics argue something is possible because of a trip he opposed as a candidate. he repeated some of the promises made before. and when he said he was still eager to reach an agreement based on his debt commission, republicans started sending out notes about that. the simpson bowls commission. in the end all of this came down to an appeal for patience. a renewed hope for the future for this president. and in the end it comes down to the u.s. economy. the current u.s. economy. he fired up this crowd, they were with him every moment of the way. tomorrow, a jobs report comes out, an unemployment report. we're told the president at this hour knows what is in that report.
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so as he delivers this speech, it comes in that context. as you see president obama and vice president biden seeking reelection. >> and an inspiring and emotional speech. >> enjoying a moment that doesn't have the balloon drop we saw at the republican national convention because they switched into this arena. they did manage to get confeety going. what a change it is it is from four years ago in the big invesco stadium with 80,000 people in an outdoor arena and fire works. they're fired up tonight but it's not quite the celebration. the president saying after telling matt lauer in 2009 the truth is if i don't get this done in a couple years this is a one term proposition. the different tonight saying it will take a few more years. also talking about his own failings. there is a question about whether he would do that, do a
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mea culpa. he did that, saying i'm far more mindful of my failings now and requoting abraham lincoln saying i've been driven to my knees by the conviction that i have no place else to go drew an emotional reaction from the crowd. >> the question is whether this speech, or all of the rhetoric here, all of the, we heard it's was going to be a list of things to go forward and the path forward. he weaved that in throughout this speech and he did have a theme, of what it would look like. the question is... whether his record over the last three and a half years will trump for some people this, speech and the feeling in this hall for democrats. and how it sits with independents. >> you can see on the shots very emotional. and brought to tears. holding their hands in front of their faces. i want to get down to chris wallace with his perspective. >> i want to pick up on bret's point about how specific the
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president was. at one point, he said you know we heard the republicans last week in tampa talking about what is wrong with america. they didn't tell how they'd make it right. he said he would tell americans the hard truths. but we heard a lot of goals tonight but no specific plans about how we'd grow this economy. no specific plans about how to put 23 million americans back to work. no specific plans about how he would deal with the entitlements and a lot of the things he did talk about were simply recanned from things he said four years ago like cutting oil exports. he never explained why next four years would be different than these last four have been. back to you. >> let's listen. >> let us pray. oh, mighty god, father of abraham, isaac and jacob, reveal to us so pou fully in your son, jesus christ, we thank you.
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for showerering your blessings upon this, our beloved nation, bless all here present and across this great land who work hard for the day when a greater portion of your justice and a more ample measure of your care for poor and suffering may prevail in these united states. help us to see that a society's greatness is found above all in the respect it shows for the weakest and neediest among us. we beseech you to shed your grace on this noble experiment in liberty. which began with the confident assertion of inalienable rights bestowed upon us by you. hive, liberty and pursuit of happen glees. thus do we praise now are the gift of life. grant us the courage to defend it. life without which no other rights are secured. we ask your benediction on
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those waiting to be born that they may be protected. waiting to see your"lsw holly e at life's end they may be accompanied by true compassion, and cherished with the dignity due those who are infirm and fragile. we praise and thank you for the gift of liberty, may this land of the free never lack those brave enough to defend our basic freedoms. renew in all our people a pro found respect for religious lib tismt first, most cherished freedom bequeathed upon us. may our liberty be harmony with truth, and help us live our freedom and faith, hope, and love. make us ever grateful for those who for over two centuries have given their lives in freedom's defense. we commend their noble souls to your eternal care as even
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now, we beg protection of your mighty arm upon our men and women in uniform. we praise and thank you for granting us the life and the liberty by which we can pursue happen glees. show us the new that happiness is found only in respecting laws of nature and nature's god. in power us with your grace. so that we might resist temptation to replace the moral law with idols of our own making or remake institutions you've given us for the newer touring of live and community. may we welcome those who yearn to breathe free and pursue happiness in this land of freedom, adding their gifts to those whose families have lived here for centuries. we praise and thank you for the american genius of government, of the people, by the people and for the people. oh, god of wisdom, justice and might, we ask your guidance for those who governorern us,
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president barack obama, vice president joseph biden, congress, the supreme court, and all of those, including governor mitt romney and congressman paul ryan who seek to serve the common good. by seeking public office. make them all worthy to serve you by serving our country. and help them remember that the only just government is the government that serves it's sits sens rather than itself w your grace may all americans choose wigsly as we consider the future course of public policy. and finally, lord, we beseech your benediction on those who depart from here this evening and all those who yearn to conduct their lives in freedom and justice. we beg you to remember those who are not free, and those who suffer for freedom's cause, those who are poor, out of work, needy, sick or alone. those who are persecuted for
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religious convictions, those still ravaged by war. and most of all, god all mighty we thank you for the great gift of our beloved country for we are indeed one nation under god. and in god we trust, so dear god, bless america. you who live and reign forever and ever, amen. >> cardinal dolan offering the benediction here. he's been an out spoken critic of the obama administration in particular, the requirement within the obama care health care law that requires certain religious institutions to xt the cost of birth control and other related agents that have been modified since by the president. so we see him making an appearance at both conventions and offering prayers for both apartmenties and all four candidates on top of the two tickets. >> he promised he would be
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fair and balanced. let's bring our panel. brit human, juan williams and steve haze. president ob yaum can deliver açf >> wow. >> your thoughts on this? >> the key is that he went from 2008, the candidate of hope, to tonight, thanked the american people, he's the candidate of the hopeful saying to them and this is in keeping with what we've heard from bill clinton and others that the journey has yet to be completed he's not making excuses saying it's a hard road but saying american people should be optimistic about it. i loved the cadence. the guy is a great speaker. and there is no debating that. in terms of the content, the attitude he brought and he quoted scripture about you know, because of you there is scripture filled with hope, i think it played to the audience and american people with a power. i think it's a very good speech. the question in my mind is going forward, what chris wallace picked up on.
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people said well, exactly how would you accomplish some of the goals? but it doesn't feel, looking at this audience, just feeling energy here, it doesn't feel like that is what this was about. but a president who has a confidence. doesn't look like he's feeling ampk yilty at the moment. he's clear about who his opponent s vision, value and difference. >> so you're saying 2008 he says i offer you hope, 2012 says you offer me hope? >> i did say that. he said you're the hope. american people, he spoke about being hopeful as opposed to being the candidate of hope. >> chris? >> i thought it was a speech that had all of the virtues awe associate with barack obama's speaking style. the cadence juan mentioned and all of it. i thought poised and he delivered it well and so on. i don't, i think given the difficult task he faced he probably did this about as well as he could but faced a difficult task. it probably didn't have it in more than the usual quotient
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of dishonesty for a political speech of this kind but it its share. he said we've been told bigger tax cuts ask fewer regulations are the only way that since government can't do everything it should do almost nothing. i've never heard anyone say that. and either party about anything. he went ton talk about you know we honor the risk takeors been the driving force behind our economic system. there is an awful a lot of men and women who don't think he honored those things and all. it's remarkable to hear him say that. he said, you know, we'll keep the prom yits of social security by taking responsibility strength so who proposing that? this is a significant number of strawmen and criticism that he made a part of the speech but that is one of the things you do in politics but there
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sit. >> we listen to the chairman of the convention, los angeles mayor close out the proceedings, the democratic national convention closed. your thoughts on tonight? >> well it was well delivered and the crowd here loved it. they were into it. everybody was into it here in the hall. i thought if you strip that away, and read the text it was ordinary and mostly small. felt to me like an extended state of the union more than it did a big acceptance sneech a national convention for a president trying for a second term. i thought when he tried to go big, when he went beyond goals we've talked about, talked about debt commission it was miss leading and this president hasn't done anything on entitlement and debt despite saying early in the term he was going to. i think that is going to be a problem for him as he tries to convince the country he's worthy of a second term.
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have you to make good on promises on the first term if you want the second term. i think in that instance he fell short tonight. >> ask our ppbl, -- panel, thank you very much. rbi mitt romney giving his rebuff. >> we go to cameron carl with the governor live in manchester, new hampshire with more. carl? >> hi, well there are a couple things republicans are noting absent from the address tonight. one a mention of the stimulus and two, a direct mention of the affordable care act, and republicans noting that mays into the statement tonight. about promises and romney camp said the president offered more promises but hasn't kept promises maitd four years ago and americans know they're not better off and it's time to change direction. it's telling tonight that the romney campaign has not been pumping out a steady list of reaction to this. in fact, in so far as they were worried mr. obama might
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rise to the level of a bill clinton speech they're not activated by it. seems perhaps by some silence they think things probably went better for them because the president didn't hit it out of the park as much as expected. >> and now down to washington. charles krauthammer is joining us live with thoughts on the speech. charles? i was stunned this is a man gave one of the great s time in 2004. and he gave one of the emptiest speeches i have ever heard on a national stage. yes it had cadence, and yes, there were deceptions in it but that is not what is so striking about it tlchl nothing in it. this man believes that government can and should do a lot. there is nothing here that tells us how he's going to go from today to tomorrow. for any of the so called goals
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and what government is going to do. what is going to enact? and what we heard was a vision. he pulls numbers out of a hat. 100,000 new math and science teachers. 600,000 more people working in natural gas z two million more trainees. and he doesn't say how we get from a to b. it's a vision. very a vision of america there is no disease and everybody has a private airplane but unless i tell you how we get there, i've said nothing. and what is so surprising is that he can't speak about his record on the economy. and it's not a good one. as we heard, he didn't speak about achievements, one that's liberals like. obama care, stimulus and etc.. they're unpopular. at least he would talk about the future, what he's going to to. there was nothing there. i'm amazed that he was -- it was like this is a guy who is
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the a student in the class turning in a paper clearly a c. and this teacher says how could you do this? why did you mail it in? i felt the biden speech was better because it was emp pathic and carried a message but the obama speech, i thought was flat and had no content in it. >> and there isl?-ñ -- other wi, i loved it, really. >> notes to follow. >> there seems to be an attempt to rebuff what he heard on the issue of reliance on government there. is a quote when as citizens we understand america is not about what can be done for us butiz> what can be done for us together through the hard and necessary work of self government. your thoughts on that? >> it is the heart of the debate for republican was romney. the heart of the debate left and right, sints french
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revolution. the individual or community so at that field argument. and that is not what you're talking about in acceptance speech. you've been in power four years, people expect you to say i'm going to do x, y, and z. we didn't hear that. so there is without meat on the bone, i think it rings hollow. >> and does it affect independence and undecided? does it move the ball in battle ground states? >> i think it does. think it's a negative. if you're an independent and aren't a committed person and sort of aw,nk pragmatist and you're listening the president wants a lot of this and that, mentioning again and again with wind and solar and algae. he didn't use a word.
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he used bio fulz. and you say i've heard this, this is nothing new this, is what he talked about. where is the meat to make me think that i should have hope and faith? that we will achieve anything? that is what i think he's lacking. i for inds it will send him somewhat backwards. >> charles, thank you very much. as always. >> turning now for more analysis, at large editor of national review on line, and former howard dean campaign manager, joe trippi. joe, your thoughts? >> i thought was a shock to everybody but i thought it was a great night for democrats. doi agree with charles. i think joe biden's speech was better than the president. i thought it was one of the best speeches of either convention and a lot like bill clinton's because i think he had credibility giving a view from of what he, you
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know talked about courage and the president made in those two tough choices. and which i think is still going to be a very signature line you know, someone osama bin laden is dead and gm is alive. that i think resonated. the president -- i don't believe there are a lot of undecides out out there. this is about firing up the base. it's going to be a base turnout election. they did that tonight. >> the president said at the beginning truth gets buried under treej and advertising. and there are a lot of consultants out there that say it doesn't seem like the campaign is sick of having those messages throughout. >> i think that was a light moment. >> sure. >> and frankly i actually thought this is a great speech and i agree jod joe biden's speech was probably better but both good speeches and went well together. i disagree and surprised at what charles is saying because offering a vision is usually the most powerful thing. that is wuchbt things we look
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back to ronald reagan p people say made him so great is that he pointed americans towards the future, towards a better future z we saw that in joe biden and barack obama's speech that it was this constant we're not going give up on you. we believe in the american people. and that we're headed in the right direction. and there are this inverse of what you usually have, frankly. usually republicans sort of calling that on the democrats. >> and talk about the difference between what we saw here tonight and what we saw four years ago. you're on the afternoon show. we played in 2008, which is moving to watch. this is a chair to what we saw tonight. >> i should have have full disclosure, i'm at the point of obama narc lepsy. and i think problem for obama is that a lot of people feel
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the same way. i'm not as harsh on this as charles was. i think probably effective and pandered to his base. but we've heard this before. so fresh and new in 2008. and this felt like several state of the unions we've heard before. there is a lot of sort of these throw away lines, chris wallace compared 2008 speech to you no, same promises he didn't fulfill in 2008. 2008. 194 barry goldwater gave a right wing speech at 1964 republican convention. a journalist responded by mi god, he's going to run as goldwater, i feel like my god, he's going run as barack obama. this felt so familiar, so uninspiring and unless you're already, still capable of being inspire bid this guy, i don't think it did what he needed to it do. >> they did in this convention mention the auto industry and bailout probably mer than any other topic. because... ohio deal was the
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auto industry and michigan. >> you got it. it's a real problem for romney. you can see it and i think you're seeing it in polls. they're splitting away before the republican convention. and i thought with the ryan pick he's putting it back in play. and this convention was a and speeches today were about making that fight. and that auto bailout is a real problem for rom nee. i think that obviously the obama people know that. they're going to keep playing that card. >> big picture having now, taken a look at both conventions. there is a lot of talk about how democrats put on a great production here there is music and crowd that they're it putting aside problems tonight 6k getting folks into this building. >> and convention floor... >> there is a a -- so compare the two like what do people walk away with

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